I can see the vat on the sales but not on the purchases . when I tried to add new rate it does not give me option to show on purchases only on sales

The VAT for sales transactions is setup differently from your purchases, Charlot. This is the reason why there's no option for purchases when adding or editing VAT rates. I'll walk you through the process.

Currently, we'll have to manually set up the VAT accounts for purchases. We can set it up as an Expense or Liability account. If you're unsure what setup to begin with, I'd recommend reaching out to your accountant. They know what's best for your business.

• Expense - if the VAT has already been paid along with the purchases.
• Liability - if the VAT will be paid later as you include with the purchases.

Meanwhile, here's the process that we can do to start tracking VAT for your purchases:

1. Create an Expense or Liability account for your VAT in your Chart of Accounts.
2. When creating Expenses, Bills, or Checks, make sure to include the VAT accounts.
3. Calculate the VAT amount manually and add it to the transaction.

If the purchases is billable to the customers, we can easily turn on the functionality. You can check this article to know more about billable expenses: Enter billable expenses in QuickBooks Online.
 

After recording the purchases, you can already create bill payments if you created bills.

We'll be around if you need additional assistance in managing your purchases and VAT. Have a great day!